Business

Suburpia founder Foley ousted from 2 more sandwich shops

Suburpia sandwich shop founder William J. Foley was ousted this week from two more of the Milwaukee carryout restaurants.

Armed with a court order, one of Foley's former business associates took possession of Suburpia locations at 116 E. Layton Ave. and 2264 N. Prospect Ave.

The action — the latest result of a bitter dispute over ownership of Suburpia, a small chain that dates to the 1960s and is still regarded fondly by many baby boomers — leaves Foley involved in just one remaining outlet, at 612 N. Water St.

But his former associates might mount an effort against that shop, too, however, asserting that they hold the rights to the Suburpia name.

Name or no, the sandwiches they are selling are not being made with the original Suburpia spices. Foley still holds the recipes, and his former partners, now foes, acknowledge that their spices are different.

Awarded possession of the locations on Layton Ave. and Prospect Ave. is Marietta Duncan, a one-time friend of Foley who helped relaunch Suburpia in late 2005. Allied with Duncan is Christan Kramer, a former home-improvement business owner who, like Duncan, has known Foley for years and helped resurrect Suburpia nine years ago.

They have kept the Layton Ave. shop open and closed the east side site, removing some of its equipment.

Foley started Suburpia in 1967, when submarine sandwiches were all but nonexistent in Milwaukee. He soon had a thriving business with a counterculture cachet and particular appeal among young people. The chain grew to more than 20 stores in the '70s before skidding into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1981. The business was reorganized and sold, but ended up in bankruptcy again a few years later. Yet another owner came in and ran Suburpia until 1989, then sold most of the shops to Subway and closed the rest.

Foley's attempts to revive Suburpia in the 1990s didn't take hold, but the 2005 effort with Duncan and Kramer proved a winner. The shop that was opened at 10853 W. Blue Mound Road in Wauwatosa drew so many customers that at times they were waiting a half-hour or more for their sandwiches.

But while Foley ran the shop and had the original spice formulations, he couldn't take a formal stake in the business for fear that would give the Wisconsin Department of Revenue leverage to come after him for unpaid taxes dating to his ownership of Suburpia decades earlier.

Foley has said that he and Duncan agreed that she would hold 50% ownership in the new company on Foley's behalf. Duncan has denied that, saying the ownership stake was always hers.

Whatever the case, the business expanded and the arrangements worked until growing disputes boiled over early last year, with Duncan and Kramer going to court to seek an order ousting Foley from the Blue Mound store. They won that battle last September and took over operation of the shop, the busiest of the Suburpias.

Then they began pressing their ultimately successful case to take possession of the Layton Ave. and Prospect Ave. locations. In the meantime, the Water St. Suburpia opened. Foley is the registered agent of the company there and is listed on the city license application, but with no ownership interest. According to the application, the business is wholly owned by another of his associates.

About Rick Romell

Rick Romell covers general business news and retail. He has won or been runner-up for national awards for business feature writing, coverage of Milwaukee's economic future, the personal toll exacted by job loss, the impact of Chinese manufacturing on Wisconsin, and the discovery of chronic wasting disease in the state's deer herd.